Acclaimed independent Welsh sci-fi film now available in UK

An independent sci-fi movie filmed in and around Cardiff that found favour with post-Pandemic audiences in North America is now available in the UK for the first time.

Expiry, a co-production between Seraphim Pictures of Cardiff Bay and TG Films of Carmarthenshire, was written and directed by Tom Gatley and filmed in South Wales in 2017 after winning The Cardiff Mini Film Festival Pitch Your Film competition of the same year.

The film stars local actors Sarah-Louise Tyler and Richard Miltiadis as married couple Sofia and Jamie Cooper who discover one morning that they are prevented from touching by the ruling authority that has deemed their union to have “expired”.

Set in a not-to-distant future that could easily be our own, the plot of Expiry unfolds in a dystopic society that provides a warning about our own increasing reliance on wearable tech and mobile devices.

The film has gained favourable reviews in the USA and has been compared to the Channel 4 / Netflix series Black Mirror.

Intriguing

The film’s co-producer, Daniel Lyddon, said “I was attracted to the production because of the intriguing story that Tom Gatley had written.

“The idea that our relationships could be defined by government-controlled wearable tech may have seemed futuristic back in 2017, but after the Pandemic years when our interactions were often governed by location-based Covid-19 apps on our phones, Tom’s vision of our future seems eerily prescient.”

Gatley said of Expiry’s success to date: “I’ve always been fascinated by dramas with a hint of sci-fi, not too distant from our own world.

“The security cameras and rules of city life blended nicely into this story of a relationship on the rocks, and we were able to use Cardiff to tell a story relatable on many levels.

“It was only a matter of time before we saw how technology could hinder us as much as free us.”

Trailer for Expiry

Attention

The film’s musical score, which was composed by director Tom Gatley, won a Bronze Medal at the Global Music Awards at the end of 2019.

Following Expiry’s Official Selection for the Boston Sci-Film Festival in February 2020, the film gained the attention of Los Angeles-based representation company Blood Sweat Honey, which helped broker distribution for the Welsh indie movie in the USA, Canada and Caribbean.

Within its first year of release, Expiry was selected for the International Sound and Film Music Festival in Croatia, where it was nominated for a Horizon Award, in addition to making the official selection to the Lebanese Independent Film Festival, and receiving a Silver Bullet Screening at Shockfest in the United States in December 2021.

Expiry is now available for rentals and purchases in the UK via Prime Video, with further deals set to be announced in the coming weeks.